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<p>[QUOTE=&quot;yakpoo, post: 1725756, member: 18157&quot;]I was a YN once...from about 1965 - 1975, then &quot;life&quot; got in the way. I was like Rip Van Winkle taking a thirty (30) year nap and waking up in 2005. In 2005 I got back into coin collecting, but everything had changed...except Numismatic News, of course!</p><p><br /></p><p>There were TPGs, the internet, and toned coins were no longer considered &quot;damaged goods&quot;. In the early 70&#039;s, I had one (1) coin store and one (1) Numismatist to learn from, Mr. Bob Deitel (if anyone knew him...he was great!). The only thing I was lacking was money. I spent hours after school with my nose pressed against the glass cases at the Madison (CT) Coin Store and Mr. Deitel would explain why a seated half had one price and another was less (or more).</p><p><br /></p><p>It was fascinating...and Mr. Deitel enjoyed the conversation. Mercury dimes were my passion and Mr. Deitel guided me through the process of putting together a BU collection...strike quality was everything. Back then, coins weren&#039;t graded on the Sheldon scale...Brilliant Uncirculated (BU) was the best and it meant just that...a coin that &quot;appears the same as it did when it dropped from the die&quot;. </p><p><br /></p><p>Nowadays, &quot;BU&quot; is meaningless. I&#039;ve seen &quot;BU&quot; used to describe toned coins! Nowadays, you have &quot;Choice&quot;, &quot;Gem&quot;, &quot;Star&quot; grades, &quot;Plus&quot; grades, &quot;CAC&quot; certification, &quot;Early Release&quot;, &quot;First Strike&quot;, &quot;Blast White&quot;...all designed to make inferior coins seem superior...or to validate what a collector should already know.</p><p><br /></p><p>I digress...the thread is about YNs. So I have two (2) observations to share...1) YNs probably don&#039;t have any more money for &quot;collectable&quot; coins than I did, and 2) YN&#039;s have WAY more resources to access quality coins and learn from their owners than I did.</p><p><br /></p><p>My recommendation to a YN (today) would be to learn photography. Spend your early years collecting photographs of coins instead of coins themselves. Focus on specific collections...then branch out over time. Go to coin shows with an IPad and a DinoLite. Meet a wide range of Numismatists and offer to photograph their best coins for free. Learn &quot;why&quot; these are the Numismatist&#039;s &quot;best&quot; coins. Focus on strike quality and die states...don&#039;t worry so much about bag marks except when grading coins. </p><p><br /></p><p>Not only will you emass enough material to write a book (if you choose), you will learn so much...without the expense of actually buying the coins. As you grow older and can afford putting together a nice collection, you will not only have the knowledge to do so, but you&#039;ll have developed the associations needed to access the best of the best...and THAT&#039;s the key to coin collecting...(imho).[/QUOTE]</p><p><br /></p>

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